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5:45 PM ET, April 8, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Jeff Huber / The Official Google Blog:
ITA Software acquisition cleared for takeoff  —  How cool would it be if you could type “flights to somewhere sunny for under $500 in May” into Google and get not just a set of links but also flight times, fares and a link to sites where you can actually buy tickets quickly and easily?
RELATED:
The United States Department of Justice:
Justice Department Requires Google Inc. to Develop and License Travel Software in Order to Proceed with Its Acquisition of ITA Software Inc. … WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced today that in order for Google Inc. to proceed with its proposed acquisition of ITA Software Inc. …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
DOJ Willing To Approve Google's $700M ITA Deal, With Conditions  —  Google has just come close to winning approval from he U.S. Justice Department of its $700 million acquisition of travel software company ITA.  Google has been embroiled in an investigation by the Justice Department …
Joe Mullin / paidContent:
Why Google's Opponents Are OK With The ITA Merger  —  The reaction to news of the Google-ITA approval has an odd twist: Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and some of its fiercest competitors are both crowing about their victory.  Is it really possible that both sides are content with the merger …
Jacques Hebert / YouTube Blog:
YouTube is going LIVE  —  With over 2 billion views a day, it's easy to think about YouTube as a place to watch videos recorded in the past.  But you've told us you want more - and that includes events taking place right now.  In response, we've live streamed a number of popular concerts …
RELATED:
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
YouTube Finally Launches Live Streaming Portal to Select Partners
Discussion: Digits, BGR and NBC Bay Area
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Exclusive: Google CEO Larry Page completes major reorganization of Internet search giant  —  Larry Page, who returned as chief executive of Google on Monday, put his stamp on how he will run the Internet giant with a major reorganization of his management team on Thursday.
RELATED:
Nicholas Carlson / SAI:
Here's The Memo Telling ALL Google Employees Their 2011 Pay Depends On Google Sucking Less At Social
Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Marissa Mayer Bypassed As Google Appoints New Head Of Local And Commerce
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
PageYank: As New SVPs Are Born at Google in CEO Reorg, What Happens to the Old Ones?
Discussion: Tech and China and NetworkEffect
Georgina Prodhan / Reuters:
Steve Wozniak says would consider return to Apple  —  (Reuters) - Steve Wozniak would consider returning to an active role at Apple, the company he co-founded, and believes the consumer electronics giant could afford to be more open than it is, he told Reuters.
Dan Primack / Fortune:
Mary Shapiro's letter on private company stock sales  —  Earlier today, we discussed a WSJ story that federal regulators may relax certain rules on share issuance by private companies.  The article was prompted by a letter from SEC chair Mary Shapiro to Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA) …
Discussion: CNNMoney.com
RELATED:
Long Zheng / istartedsomething:
Windows 8 to feature native SmartScreen file checking  —  As Microsoft anticipates a richer “apps” ecosystem for Windows 8, they appear to be taking some extra steps to shield users from malicious applications with the introduction of an in-built file verification policy powered by the SmartScreen Filter.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
The day Fred Wilson dumped AAPL  —  The VC at the center of an Android vs. iOS debate bet publicly against Apple two years ago  —  “I am selling my entire position in Apple this morning including the stock I bought earlier than last fall.  My average price on my entire position in Apple is $96 …
Agence France Presse:
Russian security service ‘wants to ban Skype, Gmail’  —  MOSCOW — The Russian security service is proposing to ban Skype, Hotmail, and Gmail as their “uncontrolled use” may threaten Russia's security, a service official said during a government meeting on Friday.
Discussion: Inquirer, The Next Web and Electronista
RELATED:
Alexandra Odynova / The Moscow Times:
State Blamed in LiveJournal Attack
Discussion: WebProNews and ONI
Zach Epstein / BGR:
Best Buy responds to alleged iPad 2 sales freeze divulged by Best Buy staffers [updated]  —  Reports of an iPad 2 sales freeze that may have gotten Best Buy in hot water with Apple emerged Thursday night, and the possible explanation given by someone claiming to work for Best Buy was odd at best.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
I Won't Use Flickr Until They Release My Photo Hostages  —  Freemium business models are always hard.  You have to give users enough for free that they try your service out and get hooked.  Then you hit them with fees for upgraded features that make it even better.
Kai Lukoff / TechRice:
Blockbuster Rumor: Facebook Partners with Baidu to Enter China  —  The internets are ablaze tonight with a blockbuster rumor: Facebook will enter China.  Marbridge Consulting reports: According to a microblog post by Hu Yanping, founder of Beijing-based market research firm Data Center of the China Internet …
Discussion: @christinelu
RELATED:
Todd Haselton / BGR:
Verizon Wireless to eliminate one-year contract option on April 17th  —  Verizon Wireless has confirmed to BGR that it will eliminate the option to sign on for a 1-year contract beginning on April 17th.  “The reason behind the change is the greater majority of customers sign up for a 2 year contract …
Edward Wyatt / New York Times:
House Votes Against ‘Net Neutrality’  —  WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives approved a measure on Friday that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from regulating how Internet service providers manage their broadband networks, potentially overturning a central initiative of the F.C.C. chairman Julius Genachowski.
Discussion: Reuters
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
IPhone Product Cycle Now More of a Platform Cycle  —  If Apple's not unveiling the iPhone 5 at its 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference, when can we expect to see the device?  Autumn, perhaps?  Certainly that seems the most logical option if Apple is moving away from its traditional June/July timeframe.
Discussion: The Loop
E.B. Boyd / Fast Company:
Facebook's Next Hardware Project: Data Storage  —  Yesterday we heard about the Open Compute Project.  Facebook's director of hardware design, Frank Frankovsky, tells us about part two of the social network's plan to spur suppliers to build the products it needs.
Thanks:noahr
RELATED:
Jon Stokes / Ars Technica:
Why Facebook open-sourced its datacenters
 
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 More Items: 
Royal Pingdom:
Windows 7 just overtook XP in the United States
Discussion: Techie Buzz, Thanks:pingdom
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
About.com About To Expand Premium, Video Content
Stephen Shankland / CNET News:
Flash use dips at top Web sites since November
Robert Andrews / paidContent:UK:
Blinkx Buys Burst Media To Chase Higher Video Ad Rates
Aoife White / Bloomberg:
Google Will Trigger More Antitrust Complaints to EU Agency, Almunia Says
Discussion: Search Engine Land and WebProNews
 Earlier Items: 
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
Acer Iconia Tab A500 Features Honeycomb, 1GHz Processor, $450 Price
Josh Constine / Inside Facebook:
Mounting Evidence Shows Potential of Social Ecommerce, Contradicting Recent Reports
Discussion: MediaPost and Digits
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
Google has developed speech-recognition technology that actually works.
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Mandy Dalugdug / Music Business Worldwide:
UMG, ABKCO, and Concord sue Believe and its subsidiary TuneCore for $500M+, alleging Believe built its business via “industrial-scale copyright infringement”

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Sources: Shari Redstone does not plan to stay on the board of Paramount Global after the company completes its planned merger with Skydance Media

William Earl / Variety:
Heretic's directors say they put a message in the credits that “no generative AI was used in the making of this film” to warn Hollywood about the danger of AI
 
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